I saw the prelims too… XKO 45 prelims here
OK. I cant say enough about all the talent on show at XKO 45. Lets get into the main card, or what I assume was the main card.
Main event
Desiree Yanez vs Andrea Amaro
Round 1
Yanez looks lean and mean, Amaro looks thick and strong. The leaner woman throws some flurries and backs Amaro up. Yanez then gets her up against the cage and takes her down to the mat. She takes her back and Amaro wastes a lot of time. Yanez wastes a lot of time too and she doesn’t put a real beating on Amaro. The round ends as Yanez tries to sink in the RNC.
Round 2
Amaro bounces are well, but Yanez is looking to clinch. Yanez hits Amaro with a right hand that sits her down for a little bit. – This is the time when Amaro changed- she realizes that she’s down on the score cards and she puts tremendous pressure on her opponent. She starts walking her down, not giving Yanez time to breathe, and using her footwork. Sometimes fighting reveals the true nature of a persons soul – It is beautiful
Round 3
More pressure from Amaro. Amaro is trying to break her opponent. She is walking Yanez down and throwing, and I can just see that Yanez is breaking. But too late.🚩 Yanez wins by unanimous decision.
Amaro has great footwork, endurance, heart, and a solid gas tank. She needs to work on her striking accuracy and her variety of strikes, she also need a better Jiu Jitsu game- especially defensively. She IS talent. Her gracious losing speech told me that she is a true Martial Artist, a woman of character and she will only get better. I’m very lucky to see her at this stage of her career. Yanez is very talented as well.
Dylan Ashburn vs Federico Olivera
Round 1
Ashburn gets knocked down, Olivera goes in for the kill but gets put in an armbar, this armbar is D-E-E-P. The man is a game fighter, he flexes out of that submission and puts Ashburn on bottom. Ashburn has a very active guard, but Olivera is able rain down a few strikes. The red-headed cornrowed Ashburn shrimps and turtles on bottom as the round comes to an end.
Round 2
Leg kicks and a big overhand right lands for Olivera. Ashburn is landing a lot of pitty-pat leg kicks which keeps scoring for him. Olivera goes for the takedown and gets it, Ashburn immediately goes to mission control. Olivera seems to come from the school of no nonsense ground fighting. He muscles out of the trap and begins blasting Ashburn.
Round 3
The Argentine, Olivera comes out throwing heat. Ashburn gets nailed a few times, but he has a big tough head. Olivera takes his opponent down again. He beats him up with hammer-fists and takes his back. Olivera finishes on top. Entertaining fight. 🚩Olivera wins by unanimous decison
Olivera is a fantastic fighter. Powerful and technical. He seems to know when to use brute strength and when to use technique. He doesnt have exceptional physical tools, but boy, he’s an entertaining one to watch. Ashburn is super technical -He’s fantastic on the ground and he takes advantage if his opponents makes mistakes. He needs to work on his stand up game though.
Alfredo Leija vs Logan Nail
Round 1
Logan Nail looks like he was born and raised in Jacked City. The dude is swole. 205 lbs of teriminator-esque muscle. He goes in an he wrecks shop like the terminator too. Leija gets rocked several times. Nail realizes that Leija isn’t moving his head enough and terminates him. There’s no hiding behind 4 oz MMA gloves. 🚩Nail wins by TKO
Nail looked like a destroyer in this fight, and when you are a destroyer, you don’t really get tested. Its kinda like rating someones performance against a punching bag. Please find this man some more opponents
Eric Flores vs Brandon Castaneda – Muay Thai
Round 1
I’ve been watching a lot of Muay Thai lately, and it seems as if MMA Muay Thai is much different that world Muay Thai. – They allow long clinches in MMA Muay Thai and I bet the scoring is a lot different. I didnt even know if this was full Muay Thai rules – anyway, whatev – Flores starts off with very traditional Muay Thai and I expected that, due to the fact that he came out in the Mongkon and blessed the top of the cage. He even took it a little easy in the first round. Brandon basically was fighting a kickboxing fight.
Round 2
The push-kick keeps working for Flores. Castaneda keeps coming forward, and he’s quite lucky that this fight is with 10 oz boxing gloves.
Round 3
Castaneda is still trying to box, and Flores is playing the more traditional Muay Thai game – He’s not playing it well, but he’s playing it.🚩 Flores wins by unanimous decision
After watching some real Muay Thai, I just fee like these guys weren’t destructive enough. Is it bad that a 14 year old Thai kid could wreck their world, or are we getting these performances because sport is its infancy? Thanks for showcasing Muay Thai XKO – not sarcasm
Taylor Reynolds vs Tye Davis
Round 1
Tye Davis ducks under a punch, crouches,, and the KOs Reynolds with a head kick. 🚩Davis wins by KO
Too easy. Cant make an assessment on either fighter. Davis comes out, smelling like roses though
Edmaicon Moraes vs Josh Foster
Round 1
Feeling out process. Edmaicon throws a lot of kicks as high level BJJ players tend to do, since they’re generally not scared to go to the ground. Foster is keeping his distance, but goes in for a takedown at the end of the round..
Round 2
Lots of tentative leg kicking and movement backwards. The fight goes to the ground and Moraes quickly attacks the heel. Foster is able to escape and gets back to his feet.
Round 3
Foster is more of the aggressor in this round. Short Jabs and kicks is the name of the game. 🚩Moraes wins by split decision
Moraes has holes in his stand up game. He likes to come on the inside with his chin in the air. He’s just begging to get it checked. He should improve his traditional Muay Thai, that way, he can score while keeping his opponents at bay. He’ll almost be begging for them to take him down, then, he can show off his jits.
Felisha Magallan vs Katherine Roy
Round 1
Magallan looks good. Roy looks sloppy. Magallan takes Roy down and slaps on a body triangle, and beats her up. Roy is able to get up and Magallan eats some shots at the bell
Round 2
It starts off a little more even on the feet. Magallan makes this fight a little dirty up against the cage. She takes Roy down, beats her up and slaps on some submissions but Roy survives
Round 3
Both ladies are tentative. Magallan is flat-footed at this point, but is able to clinch up. She takes Roy down and takes her back, Roy turns into her and gets on top, but Magallan fights well off her back. Roy gets to side control and throws some great shots to the ribs. 🚩Magallan wins by unanimous decision
Roy has improved since her last fight. She’s a survivor, and she didnt look like she was scared of the fight at any time. She needs a better BJJ game. Magallan is EXTREMELY polished. She is long and lean, and she looks to have a very good fight IQ. She needs a little better footwork and her jits could be just a little tighter. Magallan is pure finesse, I hope to see more accurate striking from her and a wider variety of strikes next time
Jeremy Hudson vs Moises Diaz – Muay Thai
Round 1
Muay Thai for MMA is happening. There is a lot of clinching and Moises seems to be winning easily. He’s damaging his opponent in the clinch
Round 2
Diaz continues to dominate. The fight could have been stopped a little earlier, but the referee allowed Hudson to fight out of it. I’m still confused about the clinching rules in this kind of Muay Thai
Round 3
Diaz continues to clinch and knee his opponent into oblivion. 🚩Diaz wins by unanimous decision.
I can understand putting Muay Thai on the card for XKO. It is super-smart. If there is a grapple-heavy fight that people aren’t excited about, let it play out – Muay Thai is coming up next. Its absolutely fantastic. I hope next time they put on a Muay Thai show with 4 oz gloves.
Andrea Amaro was unbroken
All in all, great night. I was able to get a photo with Mr Cutts. XKO prelims here